Author: sherlockj
-
Welcome to Loudoun – Just Avoid Route 7
by James C. Sherlock Saw this headline in the Washington Business Journal. “Toll Brothers pushes big residential plans in Ashburn — and a tribute to enslaved people who once lived there.” Behind the headline: This is to be a development of 1,300 residences in a project named Mercer Crossing. Since it is being built by…
-
Feds Require Changes to Virginia Health Insurance Law
by James C. Sherlock There are a couple of new issues between Virginia’s Bureau of Insurance (BOI) and the federal Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS). The problems were briefed today by a Board of Insurance representative to the Health Insurance Reform Committee. CMS has told the BOI that the 2020 General Assembly passed a law…
-
Kamala Is on It
by James C. Sherlock News you can use. “Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday called for a health care workforce that “looks like America.” It would not have been possible to make it up.
-
The Virginia Constitution’s Broken Promise of a Quality Education
by James C. Sherlock Lots of people think the schools their kids and grandkids attend are above average — the logical extension of the Lake Wobegon effect. In Virginia, they had better hope they are right. The average Virginia public school is not providing a decent education to major portions of its student body. The…
-
Success Academy Models Excellence in Teaching Poor and Minority Kids
by James C. Sherlock I have some very good news about public education at the K-12 level. Just not yet in Virginia. But first a baseline of Virginia statistics to get our heads straight. The bad news. I offer below a chart of Virginia public school Spring 2019 SOL pass rates (all schools all grades)…
-
How to Recruit the Best Charter Schools for Poor and Minority Kids
by James C. Sherlock Virginia school districts desperately need to find ways to improve public education for poor minority children. The lowest performing schools are concentrated in urban areas, but, as I have shown here, are present in even America’s richest county, Loudoun. Charter management organizations (CMOs), non-profits who operate two or more charter schools,…
-
Loudoun Public Schools and their English learners
by James C. Sherlock I wrote a column the other day that exposed gaping fissures in learning among subgroups of children in Loudoun County Public Schools. I asked readers to check the SOL data especially at Frederick Douglass Elementary, Leesburg Elementary, Sully Elementary, Sugarland Elementary, Sterling Middle and Park View High. This article will offer…
-
Solutions for Loudoun Schools from America’s Best Educators of Black and Hispanic Kids
by James C. Sherlock I wrote yesterday of the epic failures of many Loudoun County Public Schools to educate their Black and Hispanic children. Fortunately, there are proven solutions available. They were not invented here, but rather New York City by the most successful charter management organization in America. That organization offers educator instruction in…
-
Loudoun Public Schools – Suitable for Economically Secure Asian and White Kids Only
by James C. Sherlock If your kids are Asian or white and economically advantaged, Loudoun County Public Schools are worth a try. Otherwise, forget it. At my age I am seldom surprised. The failures of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) to educate so many of their children in the wealthiest county in America have easily…
-
Harassment and Bullying Not the Reason for New Transgender Protections in Virginia Schools
by James C. Sherlock The Virginia Department of Education’s Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools continue to be fiercely controversial. The Left points to harassment and bullying as the reason the 2020 law was needed. Yet we already had a law and policy against that. The new…
-
Loudoun Schools Fail Their Most Vulnerable Kids
by James C. Sherlock Kids and their parents don’t ask much of their schools. Just a quality education in a safe and moral environment. Even at ages before the children fully realize what the words education and moral mean. The kids themselves have no choice but to take what the school system puts in front…
-
Mandated Administrative Bloat Will Destroy Small Public Schools
by James C. Sherlock I am a big fan of small schools. Studies and common sense both indicate the benefits for the kids and staff can outweigh any disadvantages. But small public schools are being driven out of business by costs in some parts of Virginia. Much of the cost disadvantage in those small schools…
-
Key Fiduciary Duties of School Boards and Superintendents
by James C. Sherlock My frequent columns on Virginia schools bring up the same lines of arguments and agreements every time. I hope it will help if I explain what I expect of school boards and superintendents. I try to align my writing with those expectations. School boards and superintendents hold their positions first as…
-
Charter Schools Reveal Hypocrisy and Incompetence of Loudoun and Albemarle School Leadership
by James C. Sherlock Some people are exactly who they say they are. Not so with the Loudoun County and Albemarle School Boards and their superintendents. They are nationally famous for projecting moral superiority. They arrest lesser mortals for objecting in their presence to the policies they impose. The public charter schools in those two…
-
Virginia’s Changing Public School Demographics – COVID Edition
by James C. Sherlock Virginia’s public schools underwent significant changes in enrollment between 2018-19 and 2020-21. The figures for this school year have yet to be released. In the three-year period ending 2020-21, Virginia public schools saw a decline of 37,775 students, a loss of 2.9%. The racial and social-economic demographics also changed. The numbers…